In Poinciana, it’s time for the Beach Bash.

Michael W. Freeman is a veteran journalist, playwright and author. Born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, he has lived in Orlando since 2002. Michael has worked for some of Florida's largest newspapers, including The Orlando Sentinel. His original plays have draw strong audiences at the Orlando Fringe Festival. He is the author of the novels "Bloody Rabbit" and "Koby's New Home."

Poinciana’s Vance Harmon Park will serve as the host site for the first ever Back to School Beach Bash. (Photo by Michael Freeman).POINCIANA – It’s not every day, Jeanette Coughenour said, when a community rolls out something special: a gigantic sand box.
“We’ll have a big old sand box,” said Coughenour. “We’re creating a gigantic sand box in the park.”
That park is Vance Harmon Park off Cypress Parkway in Poinciana, and if it all sounds like, well, something best suited for kids, that’s exactly the idea that the Association of Poinciana Villages had when it first envisioned the creation of a massive sand box.
“The kids will be playing in it, and there will be water balloons to throw around,” said Coughenour, the manager of the APV, which is the homeowners association for the 10 villages in Poinciana. “We’ve coined it the Back to School Beach Bash, because it is the final Saturday before the kids go back to school.”
The Back to School Beach Bash is being held on Saturday, Aug. 11, at Vance Harmon from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. This is the first time the community has sponsored a special back to school event for local kids.
“It’s sponsored by the APV,” Coughenour said. “It’s one of the events that we are undertaking during 2012 to commemorate our 40th anniversary.”
The first one was held on the Memorial Day Weekend, and now comes this one, on the final weekend of summer fun for kids before the fall school semester begins.
“This is the second of the events, and this event is geared toward Poinciana’s children,” Coughenour said. “It’s all about Poinciana’s kids, and there will be multiple activities for different age groups.”
For example, a D.J. will be on hand to play – not surprisingly – ”songs with a beach theme, like the Beach Boys,’’ Coughenour said. “For the older kids, we’ll be doing a Make Your Mark in The Park type of thing.’’
The mark that the older kids will be asked to make, she said, involves the wooden boxes used by the APV as trash receptacles at Vance Harmon Park. The teens will be asked to demonstrate their artistic talent, and literally make their mark on the boxes with creative, artistic designs.
“Our teens are going to design the boxes that are the trash receptacles that will permanently be in the park, and take some ownership of them,” Coughenour said. “That will be cool for them.”
The morning and afternoon fun will also include bounce houses, face painting, hot dogs, hamburgers, and more.
It’s a great idea to have an event in Poinciana just for the kids, said Wendy Farrell, the chairman of the Poinciana Area Council, a group of business owners in Poinciana who meet on a monthly basis, and who sponsor both a scholarship for graduating high school students and an annual Career Day, which sends business owners to the high schools to meet with students.
Poinciana’s students have been working hard in recent years, Farrell said, and deserve a day of their own to have fun.
“They represent the youth of our community – and our future leaders,” Farrell said.
The entire event is free, compliments of the APV, Coughenour said.
“We will be handing out a 40th anniversary Poinciana handbag to the kids, and we’re in the process of collecting up supplies, possibly school supplies – coloring books and things like that,” she said. “Everything will be free for the children.”
Although this is the first time that APV has sponsored a back to school event, it may not be the last one, she said.
“Obviously we’re celebrating our 40th anniversary, but this may become something that continues to happen every year,” Coughenour said. “I know the Y (YMCA in Poinciana) is very interested in carrying it on each year, which would really be a cool thing for kids – to get outside, run around, and have fun before they go back to school.”
To learn more about this event, call the APV office at 863-427-0900.

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Michael Freeman

Editor and Publisher at Freeline Productions LLCI have 22 years of experience in print journalism, having worked for a decade as a news reporter for an urban daily in Massachusetts, and then as an editor for a 38,000 circulation weekly newspaper in Central Florida. My background ranges from being a general assignment reporter to hiring writers, photographers, graphic artists and web designers. I have a solid background in all aspects of journalism, and now operate an online daily magazine. I belong to that field known as the "team players"; I work best when I can recruit and inspire excellent supporting staff to collaborate with me on projects that deliver solid results. I have have the ability to meet super-tight deadlines, a key ingredient to being successful in this field.